Planet Earth : Complete BBC Series (5 Disc Box Set) [2006] [DVD]

I have never in my life seen anything like this series. I had thought that the Blue Planet, also by the BBC, was the pinnacle of achievement of wildlife television. The deep sea episode had left me breathless, but that proved nothing compared to Planet Earth. The effort that went into this series is obvious. Only at the end of each show when we spend time with each of the crews do we really get a sense of what they had to do to bring such beauty before us. This is not self-serving "let's pat ourselves on the back" television. It only adds to the sense of wonder, and to the sense of how privileged we have been to see some of the rarest sights in nature. The camerawork is sensational. The killer whale rising out of the sea with the seal in its mouth, the diving hawks making their mid-air kill, the snow leopard bounding down sheer cliffs, the chandelier cave. All incredible. This is unlike most other "animal" tv shows, where the audience is patronised into listening to an ill-thought out anthropomorphic commentary which is little more than "ooohhh...isn't that cute" or "whoooah...isn't that dangerous". Attenborough is wonderful. He has the humility to understand that the show is not about him, and he is prepared to say nothing whilst our senses drink in "that shot" of Angel Falls or the intense colours of the Okavanga Delta. The behaviour of the Gobi desert camels left me speechless; you don't need some idiot telling you how amazing it is. I can recommend this serious without hesitation. This is public television at its best. It cannot be financially prudent to spend 40 days in the Gobi desert chasing Bactrian camels, but it takes real corporate bravery to say that natural beauty cannot be captured on the cheap. The camera techniques (remember the African dogs chase?) are priceless. You must watch this series. People at my office were discussing each episode for days afterward. Friends' children were having the same discussions - "oh my god - did you see that?" If 8 year old children and 60 year old lawyers have the same base sense of wonder, nobody will watch this and think, "it's just another documentary". This is nothing like you will have seen before. I thought I was a cynic, but this really has re-opened my eyes to the raw power of nature.

I've recently purchased a Blu Ray player and as soon as I had handed over my cash for that I knew that I wanted to watch Planet Earth on it - the idea of seeing those amazing images in crystal clear high def just seemed to be perfectly suited for the world of HD home entertainment.

I'd already owned a copy of Planet Earth on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it. It simply provided everything that the original broadcast on BBC provided with a couple of extra bonus features thrown in. Although very good I really wanted to upgrade to the Blu Ray edition to make the most of the increased image qualities.

I had a look at the product description for the standard original Blu Ray edition and although it certainly sounded like the increase in picture quality I was seeking would be well provided for I noticed that it said that the Planet Earth Diaries features, behind the scenes 10 minute shorts that accompanied each episode, were nowhere to be found and for some reason they weren't included with the Blu Ray release. This made me feel a little cheated that my several year old DVD set was more complete and definitive than the more expensive Blu Ray edition. As a result instead of charging into buying a product that I longed for I "umm"ed and "ahh"ed and ultimately put off buying it for a wee while. I was glad I did.

I ended up seeing the Special Edition Blu Ray listed on Amazon and after finding out it had everything the DVD version did and more I went and bought it straight away.

Firstly if you're unaware of the show in the first place it is truly awe inspiring. It is as if there is an Intergalactic Tourist Board and this is their advertisement for aliens to come and visit Earth. It shows off the most wondrous of things that exist on this hunk of rock, including plants, geology and most prominently animal life, many of which I had no idea even existed before seeing them up close in this example of perfect TV.

The picture and sound quality are superb throughout. The images were all filmed on the most cutting edge HD cameras of the time and look sensational on this transfer. They are sensationally complimented by the score of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and, of course, Sir David Attenborough's legendary narration. Sir David brings such gravitas to any production and the respect he clearly has for the topics being shown is infectious.

The Blu Ray contains all the Planet Earth Diaries for the entire series. They're not shown straight away after each relevant episode - as they were shown when first broadcasted and on the DVD - but must be accessed from the Special Features menu. This isn't a hassle at all though so it doesn't spoil anything and indeed it's nice to have the option of just watching them when the mood suits.

All in all this is a sensational release. I am racking my brains to think of a better example of what TV can be when dedicated people put their minds to it but I truly can't think of anything that surpasses Planet Earth in terms of quality and the impact it has on the viewer. On top of one of the greatest shows of our time the updated, and indeed greatly improved, release has now made this natural history essential even more essential.

Of all the natural world style documentaries that have been done this is surely the best. Needless to say David Attenborough gives an excellent commentary, but it's the production values here that take the breath away. From the huge array of overhead views of all sorts of vista's from deserts to jungle to the minute and painstaking close up shots that pass in seconds but took months to shoot this simply oozes quality.

With so many other similar documentaries already done this needed something different and arresting to pull in the audiences and so we are presented with hour after hour of all manner of things most of us never even knew existed let alone have seen from creatures that can only be found in 2 of the worlds waterfalls to sandstorms hundreds of metres high charging across a desert . The programme is also unusual in that it rarely pauses for too long on any one subject, you are really getting as much as possible packed into every episode.

The whole planet gets a look in and by the end you want to go back and see it all again.

Well done to the BBC for such high production values in the DVD too. The picture is superb, no graininess, dark and light scenes are handled equally well and colour is vivid and yet still lifelike. Hi-def was made for this type of release.

Sound is also well mixed in subtle 5.1.

The extra look at how each episode was made is a nice bonus too.

If you feel you've probably seen it all before then think again as this really is a breath of fresh air. This is a great programme and is well worth owning.